Caroline VanBlargen, Harrisburg Native, Scores Highly in Putnam Competition

ST. MARY'S CITY, MD (04/19/2013)(readMedia)-- St. Mary's College of Maryland junior and Harrisburg native Caroline VanBlargen scored 20 points in this year's William Lowell Putnam Competition, a famously difficult test of mathematics knowledge and problem-solving skill. This year's St. Mary's Putnam Competition team placed 71st out of 578 participating institutions, a new high mark which beat the team's previous best of 104.

VanBlargen is a mathematics major at St. Mary's College of Maryland. She tied with one other student for best score out of the 31 St. Mary's College students who took the exam this year.

Since 1938, the Putnam Competition has been administered by the Mathematical Association of America. A three-professor committee spends up to five months devising 12 complicated problems, each worth 10 points. In Putnam history, there have only been 3 perfect scores. Peter Lo '06 scored 22 points, St. Mary's highest score to date, in 2004.

The highest national scorers in the Putnam Competition can win cash awards and even a free graduate education at Harvard. The St. Mary's Math Foundation awards the Putnam Prize, in the amount of $10 for each point the student earns, to the student earning the highest score. The St. Mary's Mathematics Department also offers a one-credit seminar course every fall as preparation for the Putnam Competition.